


I Did Not See That Coming

by matimae



Category: Elementary (TV)
Genre: Blackmail, Falsely Accused, Gen, Gun Violence, Set somewhere in the earlier seasons I guess, Stalking, Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:21:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27075637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matimae/pseuds/matimae
Summary: Sherlock Holmes attracts danger wherever he goes, but he still doesn't expect it behind his front door.
Kudos: 13
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	I Did Not See That Coming

**Author's Note:**

> written for whumptober no.17 (blackmail, wrongfully accused)

“You know, surprisingly enough, I did not _actually_ see this one coming,” Sherlock said, raising his hands above his head in surrender.

“I mean, I normally see these things coming. It’s my profession to, really.”

Sherlock stood in the middle of his living room, his client that he had worked with for weeks now standing directly across from him- gun aimed directly at his heart.

“You were just a normal case!” he lamented, always the one to fill the silence with endless talking.

It _was_ just a completely average case. Haris Barker had come to him with a series of Blackmail requests that he just couldn’t pay off anymore. When Sherlock asked why he didn’t just go to the police, he found out that it was because the material the blackmailer had on him was of the sensitive sort. Evidence of his unfaithfulness in his marriage.

Really it wasn’t Sherlock’s kind of case, there was no murder, no mystery, it was either the wife or a too nosy neighbor, but either way- Sherlock hadn’t turned him down when he saw the look of desperation in the man's eyes.

He was lost, and hell, it would only take Sherlock a weekend.

That’s what he thought 4 weeks ago. Since then he hasn’t been able to find any information- which was quite perplexing in the least. But never did he think it would amount to a gun being wielded in his face.

“Why don’t you just put that thing away before anyone gets hurt! If your upset that I haven’t found your blackmailer yet then-”

“I didn’t bring a gun so that nobody wouldn’t not get hurt!” Haris said, brows furrowing in confusion at his own sentence.

It was becoming clear to Sherlock just the kind of person he was really dealing with, and it wasn’t the client facade that he had known for the past month.

“Mr. Barker, I beg you to just listen to me, _you’re in no danger her_ e. There’s no need for violence.”

“I’m not the one who should be afraid of danger! You should! ‘ _Mr. Sherlock Holmes'_ ,” he said in mock appreciation.

“Everyone thinks you’re so special! That you’re so good! They don’t know the horror of who you truly are! Of what you did.” Haris spit venomously.

A seed of fear was beginning to plant itself inside of Sherlock’s stomach. He could handle the random crazy antics that came with working with people in New York, but if this guy truly had a vendetta against him…

“I don’t even know what I did. Or what you _think_ that I did.”

Haris face burned red. “You know!” he shook violently. “You pretend to be a detective, but it’s really just to cover up for your crimes. Your crimes like what you did...like what you did to my wife!”

“Your wife?”

“Murdered. In our home. Don’t act like you don’t know!” he cries in anguish. His frustrations reaching an almost boiling point.

Sherlock shook his head, keeping his hands trained above him. “I swear, I have no discernible idea on what you’re talking about.”

Haris begins to pace the room, keeping a white-knuckled grip on the gun.

“You’re lying! You’re trying to con me. I did everything, just to get here, just to catch you. And I’m not letting you trick me out of it!”

Pieces of the puzzle were falling into place for Sherlock. “The whole case that you came to me with weeks ago…it was all a lie. To keep me _distracted_. So that you could slip under my radar, and get close enough to me to...” Sherlock tilts his head.

They both knew where the sentence was going.

“I may have done things that weren’t... _ethical,_ previously in my life, but I can swear to you, that the things you think I did- you’ve just been horribly misguided.”

The man growled in retort. “I trust my sources! They tell me that it was you. I know that you’re the one!”

“Whoever told you that I did it was just using you, to get at me. Think about it. Just for a moment. You’ve been following me for weeks now, probably, watching every move that I make. Have I ever once given you a reason to believe I was capable of murder? Have I done anything to make you judge my character so harshly?”

He violently shook his head. “No, you’re- you’re just good at hiding it. I know you’re the guy. _You have to be the guy.”_

His arm was shaking so bad Sherlock figured there was a 30% chance he would shoot him just by accident, his finger resting dangerously close to the trigger.

He was distraught, Sherlock could see it all now. What at first he chalked up to a husband worried about being caught, now he saw clearly was a man-desperation in his eyes-searching for answers.

This was more than just getting answers. He needed someone to blame, he needed to make someone pay, and even if logically he knew that Sherlock wasn’t his man, his brain would trick him into thinking he was. Because the real culprit of the crimes that Sherlock was being accused of was still out there, in the great unknown.

But here he stood. Right in front of him, the perfect scapegoat. A target for _revenge_ most foul.

“You know that I can help you.” Sherlock started slowly, eyes glancing between the man's face and his trigger finger. “the case you came to me at first was under false pretense, but if you let me help you, and I mean for real, I can find the man that actually did murder your wife.”

The man was being reduced to a pile of sweat in front of him. He blinked hard as if it would make his problem disappear when he opened them.

“How- how can I know that I can trust you?”

Internally Sherlock sighed in relief.

_He may actually get through to him after all._

“You know my track record, _I solve cases_. I know that you’re desperate for answers. I can give those answers to you. You just have to set the gun down...” Sherlock insisted, trying to dismantle the situation over his ever rapidly increasing heartbeat.

Haris shakily puts down the weapon, a thread away from falling apart into shambles. Sherlock kicks the gun away from him, it glides against the wooden floors.

_If there was nothing he disliked more than guns…_

Sherlock moved to pick the weapon up and walked it to the kitchen, leaving the broken man alone in his Living Room. Just because Haris put the gun down once didn’t mean Sherlock was going to leave it in arms reach for a death threat to occur for a second time.

People change their minds all the time.

Free out of immediate danger, Sherlock removes his cellphone and calls Joan.

“Hello, Watson. Wanted to inform you I just talked down a gunman in our living room so you might want to take extra caution. Also might want to stop by and talk to Gregson about security- as said gunman had been stalking us for weeks now.” he said, his tone flat. He needed to get the facts out quickly.

“Wait- Sherlock? What do you-” Joan started, flabbergasted by the sudden drop of information.

“No time to talk!” he interrupted, ending the call.

_Joan was safe and now aware, and that’s really all the time he had for._ Sherlock thought, looking back over his shoulder into the living room behind him, where Haris was now pacing in the entryway.

“Well, Mr. Barker, if we’re quite done with the dramatics then I’d say we have a case to start.”

Sherlock once again set on his most calm approach, though having someone try to murder you in your home rarely leaves you very calm.

“Start at the very beginning,” he said, determined to solve the case of the late Mrs. Barker as quickly as possible.

And then, to find whoever had put out the nasty rumor that he was the one to have committed the crime.

Because if Sherlock didn’t know any better, he’d suspect they were the very same person.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! <3


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